Drawer construction



y 2, 1967 J. B. VOGT 3,317,262

DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 10, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS 2, 1967 i J. B. vos-r' 3,317,262

DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 10, 1965 2 Sheets-Shet 2 INVENTOR. dfl/Wfif 5. V067 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,317,262 DRAWER CONSTRUCTION B. Vogt, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor to Knape & Vogt Manufacturing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Sept. 10, 1965, Ser. No. 486,457 3 Claims. (Cl. 312342) James This invention relates to a drawer rail assembly, and more particularly to a unique drawer and rail assembly allowing extra drawer width for the cabinet width provided, with minimum required side clearance.

Conventional drawer and rail assemblies require a substantial side clearance on both sides of the drawer, between the outer faces of the drawer side walls and the inner faces of the cabinet side walls, to receive the rails. This side clearance is normally at least about /2 inch on each side to provide suflicient width to receive rail members of sufliciently sturdy construction. Thus, the total side clearance on both sides is normally at least about one inch. Consequently, with a normal cabinet space width of about seven inches or so, the drawer width itself between the outer wall surfaces can only be about six inches at most, therefore preventing about fifteen percent of the cabinet space width to be useful for drawer space.

Previously, efforts to significantly reduce the clearance required by the drawer rails have resulted in marked decrease in either the rail strength or the operational smoothness. Also, the forming operations of the rails would be made much more diflicult.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel drawer and rail assembly which requires only a small fraction of an inch side clearance, i.e., a maximum of about of an inch on each side of the drawer, while still providing very smooth functioning and excellent load supporting strength, and without increasing complexity of forming operations. Consequently, the usable width of the drawer can be substantially increased. The rails can be formed of relatively heavy stock, if desired to even provide a heavy duty drawer, yet with only insignificant side clearance required.

Another object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive drawer and rail assembly not only achieving maximum usage of cabinet space with minimum side clearances, but also significantly decreasing the amount of material needed to form the side walls of the drawer itself, relative to prior units, for a specified drawer height. The drawer rails actually function dually as drawer supports and as part of the drawer retention side walls so that drawer material costs are reduced while providing an improved structure with increased capacity.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent upon studying the following specification in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the drawer and rail assembly shown mounted in a cabinet, with the drawer and cabinet being illustrated in phantom for clarity;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of the front end of the drawer rail and the rear end of the case rail on the left side of the assembly in FIG. 1, depicting their positions just after interconnection or after disconnection;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of the portions of the two rails in FIG. 2 shown just after disconnection or just prior to interconnection;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional, elevational view of the assembly taken on plane IV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional, elevational view of just the drawer and its rails, taken on plane V- V of FIG. 1

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, front, elevational view of just the cabinet and its rails, with the drawer and its rails removed therefrom;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, sectional, elevational view of just the left side of the assembly, taken on plane VII-- VII of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, sectional, elevational view of the one side of the assembly as in FIG. 7, taken on plane VIIL-VIII of FIG. 4.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the complete assembly 10 (FIG. 1) includes a receiving cabinet 12 of conventional construction, a drawer 1 4, a pair of drawer rails 16 and 16' mounted to the drawer side walls, and a pair of case rails 18 and 18' mounted to the inside faces of the side walls of cabinet 12.

Cabinet 12 includes a pair of side walls 20 and 20, (a top 22, and a back 24) defining a drawer receiving space therebetween, with the front being open to receive the drawer.

The drawer unit 14 includes a front 26 with a pull handle 28 of selected type, a pair of side walls 30 and 30', a bottom 32 and a back 34. Side walls 30 and 30 are of lesser height than front 26 and than the drawer receiving space height :for reasons described specifically hereinafter.

Drawer rails 16 and 16' interfit telescopically with case rails 18 and 18'. Each case rail basically has a C-shaped cross sectional configuration to thereby :be open-sided on .one side. The two rails are mirror image units of each other. Referring to case rail 18, its C-shaped cross sectional configuration includes a vertical panel 38 mounted to the inside face of cabinet wall 20 by screws, and a pair of upper and lower flanges 4t) and 42 normal to panel 38 and parallel to each other, projecting into the drawer receiving space. The lower surface of upper flange 40 provides a track surface for rollers mounted to the drawer rail, as does the upper surface of lower flange 42, depending on the weight distribution of the drawer. These trails extend the length of the drawer space in the cabinet as illustrated in FIG. 4.

Rotatably mounted to the front end of each case rail is a roller wheel which has an axle 52 cifset downwardly from the centerline of the rail 50 that its lower peripheral portion projects beneath flange 42 and its upper peripheral portion has a substantial clearance from upper flange 40. R-ail 18' has a like positioned wheel 50' at its front end, and a pair of like flanges 40' and 42'. The frontal portion of lower flanges 42 and 42' are removed beneath and behind wheels 50 and 50' to provide receiving openings behind rollers 50 and 50 an amount slightly greater than the diameter of cooperative rollers 56 and 56' on the respective drawer rails 16 and 16'.

Drawer rails 16 and 16' have upper body portions which also are basically C-shaped in cross sectional configuration, to be open sided on one side. That is, drawer rail 16 includes a vertical, elongated back panel 60 from which two upper and lower horizontal flanges 62 and 64 project normal thereto and parallel to each other outwardly away from the drawer toward the case rail. Likewise, drawer rail 16' has panel 60', upper flange 62', and lower flange 64'. Preferably, downwardly depending stabilizer and mounting flanges 66 and 66' extend integrally from the outer edges of flanges 64 and 64' for abutment with and securement to the outer faces of the drawer side walls 30 and 30'. These drawer rails are mounted on the top edges of drawer side walls 30 and 30, with depending flanges 66 and 66' secured thereto by screws (e.g. screws 70 and 70).

Rollers or Wheels 56 and 56' on the drawer rails are rotatably mounted to the rear ends thereof, generally inside the C-shaped configuration, but with their axes 57 and 57 displaced upwardly thereof so that the upper peripheral portions of these wheels project above upper flanges 62 and 62, and the lower peripheral portions have a suflicient clearance from lower flanges 64 and 64 to receive therebetween the lower flanges 42 and 42 of the case rails. The upper flanges 62 and 62' thereby provide tracks for case rollers 50 and 50', while the lower flanges 64 and 64' rest directly on the top edge surfaces of the drawer side walls.

Upper flanges 62 and 62' of drawer rails 16 and 16' have their rear end portions removed above wheels 56 and 56 and in front of the wheels (i.e. toward the front of the drawer) an amount sufficient to provide receiving openings slightly longer than the diameter of the cooperative case rail rollers 56 and 56' to receive them as the case rail openings receive the drawer rail rollers.

To utilize the novel assembly, first drawer rails 16 and 16' are mounted to the upper edges of the drawer side Walls by using reinforcing flanges 66 and 66' as connecting means, and case rails 18 and 18 are mounted to the inside faces of cabinet walls 20 and 20'. The drawer is then inserted into the cabinet by telescopically interengaging the rails. More specifically, the rails are telescopically interengaged by tilting the rear end of the drawer and its rails downwardly at an acute angle, as illustrated by drawer rail 16 in FIG. 3, and then tipping the drawer to its normal horizontal position. This inserts drawer rail rollers 56 and 56' through the openings in case rail flanges 42 and 42' adjacent and behind rollers 50 and 50 as illustrated in FIG. 2, while simultaneously inserting case rail rollers 56 and 56' in the openings of drawer rail flanges 62 and 62, to overlap the rails and rollers. The drawer with its attached rails is then pushed into the cabinet to telescopically interengage the rail elements while the rollers engage the tracks on the alternate rails. If the weight in the drawer is at the rear of the drawer, its rollers 56 and 56 will move along the lower flanges 42 and 42' of the case rail. When the weight is balanced toward the front end of the drawer, as when the drawer is at least partially extended, rollers 56 and 56 will roll along the upper flanges 40 and 40' as illustrated for example in FIG. 4. Normally, the rollers 50 and 50 will engage the upper flanges 62 and 62' of the drawer rails.

When the drawer is pulled open, it is prevented from moving completely to the disengageable position illustrated in FIG. 2 by suitable indentations 62a (FIG. 4) in the upper flanges 62 and 62' of rails 16 and 16'. This indentation strikes the upper peripheral portion of roller 50, and only disengages to allow further extension if slight lifting force is placed on the drawer.

With this novel construction, the drawer rails and case rails can be made of substantial width and thickness. Yet since the rails are largely positioned immediately above the edges of side walls 30 and 30' of the drawer, only slight side clearance C (FIG. 7) is required between the cabinet inside face and the drawer outer wall face. In fact, this clearance can be A2 inch or less in actual practice. Consequently, maximum usage can be made of the receiving space in the cabinet and drawer.

Another distinct advantage arising with mass production of the drawer and rail assemblies, is that the material required for the drawer side walls is substantially reduced. The height of the drawer side walls is substantially reduced from that normally required since panels and 60 of the drawer rails actually form the upper portions of the retention walls, i.e. serving as extensions of the main walls. Preferably, these panels are substantially coplanar with the inside faces of walls 30 and 30. The drawer depth therefore extends to the upper flanges 62 and 62' of the drawer rails, yet allowing walls 30 and 30' to be considerably shorter than this.

I claim:

1. A drawer and rail assembly comprising: a drawer including a pair of partial side walls having upper edges; a pair of case rail-s each having a generally C-shaped cross section, oriented with their open sides facing inwardly toward each other; a pair of drawer rails having portions generally C-shaped in cross section and mounted on the upper edges of said side walls to extend thereabove and with the open sides faced outwardly opposite each other; said drawer rails and case rails being laterally telescopically interfitted with each other and both including rotatable rollers allowing non-friction longitudinal telescopic extension therebetween; and said drawer rails having vertical panels forming vertical extensions of said partial drawer side walls.

2. The assembly in claim 1 wherein said drawer rails each have a rotatably mounted roller at the rear end thereof, said case rails each have a rotatably mounted roller at the front end thereof; and said case rails and drawer rails have roller receiving openings in their horizontal portions of their C-shaped cross section to interfit and overlap the rails for telescopic engagement thereof.

3. The assembly in claim 2 wherein said openings in said case rails are in the lower horizontal portions immediately behind its rollers, and said openings in said drawer rails are in the upper horizontal portions immediately in front of its rollers.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,226,962 12/1940 Baird 312341 X 2,739,028 3/1956 Siggia 312-341 2,941,847 6/1960 Dargene 312--343 X CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

FRANK DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DRAWER AND RAIL ASSEMBLY COMPRING: A DRAWER INCLUDING A PAIR OF PARTIAL SIDE WALLS HAVING UPPER EDGES; A PAIR OF CASE RAILS EACH HAVING A GENERALLY C-SHAPED CROSS SECTION, ORIENTED WITH THEIR OPEN SIDES FACING INWARDLY TOWARD EACH OTHER; A PAIR OF DRAWER RAILS HAVING PORTIONS GENERALLY C-SHAPED IN CROSS SECTION AND MOUNTED ON THE UPPER EDGES OF SAID SIDE WALLS TO EXTEND THEREABOVE AND WITH THE OPEN SIDES FACED OUTWARDLY OPPOSITE EACH OTHER; SAID DRAWER RAILS AND CASE RAILS BEING LATERALLY TELESCOPICALLY INTERFITTED WITH EACH OTHER AND BOTH INCLUDING ROTATABLE ROLLERS ALLOWING NON-FRICTION LONGITUDINAL TELESCOPIC EXTENSION THEREBETWEEN; AND SAID DRAWER RAILS HAVING VERTICAL PANELS FORMING VERTICAL EXTENSIONS OF SAID PARTIAL DRAWER SIDE WALLS. 